


Lovers, or Partners in Crime

by Mulletking



Category: Stray Kids
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Blackouts, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fuckbuddies, Hurt/Comfort, Lee Minho | Lee Know is a Sweetheart, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned Bang Chan, No Smut, Partners in Crime, Teen Angst, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24701635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mulletking/pseuds/Mulletking
Summary: In which Lee Minho recieves a one AM phone call from a very drunk and very distressed Han Jisung. Based on the song "Partners in Crime" by FINNEAS.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	Lovers, or Partners in Crime

"Can you pleasemcome pick meup."  


"What?" Minho asks.  


"I'm-I'm inthe skate park. Kkkkkkkkuuuhm sorry, I jus needa lift maaaaan." Minho pulls his phone away from his ear to double check the caller ID. Yeah, it's definitely Jisung. He frowns at the screen.  


"What the hell is going on?" He asks, and rubs his eyes. It's one AM for fucks sake.  


"I-I I'm really sorry bro… I woulda-" Jisung's voice is cut off as the sound of retching comes through the speaker. Jesus Christ. "I would've asked Channie boy but… yaknow…"  


"What? I know what?"  


"Please just help me out, I'm really not in a good place right now, I'm asking you-" More retching. "I'm asking you as a friend, and as a human being to help-"  


"Jisung, calm down. It's fine, okay? I'm on my way, just stay where you are." Minho says.  


"I'm sOrrY-"  


"It's okay. It's fine. I'm coming to get you." Minho says.  


"Okay." Jisung whispers.  


"Okay."  


The phone call had woken Minho up. Tomorrow was supposed to be his day off so he planned to sleep in, but apparently Jisung had other plans. AKA, calling before the crack of dawn to cry a lot, ask for a ride home, and literally vomit on the phone line. It was HIGHLY unlike Jisung to do something like that so YES, Minho was worried. Minho IS worried as he takes his mom's car as quietly as he can to the only skate park he can think of, the sketchy one in Wallaceville.  
It's too damn late, or early? It's pitch black outside besides the fluorescent signs that the local restaurants never shut off and the occasional streetlamp. There are no other cars on the road. No other idiots up at this hour.  


Except for Jisung. THE idiot. Minho's idiot, although he would never admit to it. He's sitting alone on the concrete between two ramps, back resting on the black metal fence that encloses the park. He's dressed in black jeans, black boots, and a black hoodie, and the only thing he has with him is his stupid red backpack that has a broken strap - the one he refuses to get rid of, God know why, even though it's always hanging around like a sack of bricks closer to his butt than his actual back. The sight isn't pleasant, and it only gets worse the closer Minho comes. He parks the car just 20 feet away before hopping out.  


"Jisung?" He calls out, and his voice is still scratchy with sleep. His bare feet slap against the cool pavement.  


"Uhhhhhh…" Jisung groans, and tries to hoist himself up. As if in slow motion he starts to tumble down like a stack of Jenga blocks, and Minho runs forward to catch him. Up close he's a lot worse. Skin pale and sticky with sweat, eyes unfocused, bleached hair flat across his forehead.  


"Jesus Ji, you smell like a bar." Minho grunts while trying to maneuver his friend into an easier position for carrying.  


" 'M sorry." Jisung hiccups. His legs have apparently given out. He's much too far gone to hold himself up. It's a grim scene; Minho with his bed hair, pajamas, and bare feet, trying his best to support the half unconscious weight of Jisung who is dressed like a bad bank robber in the dead of night at the shitty skate park in the shitty town.  


"Come on, it's okay, I got you." Minho says, and half carries-half drags Jisung to the car.  


"Wait… my-my bag!" Jisung suddenly yells, and makes a weak attempt to wriggle away from Minho.  


"I'm gonna go back for it, don't worry." Minho says.  


"No, my bag!" Jisung yells again, and starts to throw his elbows around.  


"I'm going to get it, okay? I just need you to get in the car, I'm not leaving your bag." Minho says. That stupid bag. Jisung seems to calm down a little bit, at least he's stopped struggling, and Minho does 80% of the work getting him into the passenger seat.  


"I'll be right back, I'm getting your bag now, okay?" Minho says. It's times like these when his medical worker instincts kick in. Jisung nods his head a couple of times, eyes closed and mouth downturned. It only takes ten seconds for Minho to retrieve the bag and put it in the back seat as opposed to the whole seven minutes it took to get Jisung where he is.  


"I have to take you to the hospital." Minho says once he returns, leaning in through the open passenger side door and brushing Jisung's sweaty bangs out of his face. He looks God-awful.  


"What? No, no, I can't go there." Jisung says, becoming distressed again. He tries to locate his seat buckle so he can undo it and presumably escape, but his hands can't find the button.  


"Yes, I have to bring you. You could have alcohol poisoning." Minho says, taking Jisung's hands and holding them still.  


"No." Jisung says, a bit more firmly this time. "I don't. I didn't even drink that much, I'm just a stupid light weight."  


"How much did you have?" Minho asks. Jisung closes his eyes and breathes deeply through his nose.  


"Jisung, how much did you have to drink?" Minho repeats. Jisung's eyes snap open and he smiles a weird and lopsided grin.  


"Hehe… just a couple. You know, those little guys, the tiny ones. Fireball 'n stuff." Jisung slurs. "Don't worry, I'll be okay. Just needa go to sleep."  


"So stupid." Minho mumbles, and Jisung really has it in him to pout. He sticks out his bottom lip and stares up through those long eyelashes.  


"You're my hero, Minho." He says. Those words shouldn't make Minho's face feel so warm. Those are intoxicated words. The elder pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.  


"I'll take you back to my house." He says. "If I take you to yours your parents will kill you." At that Jisung's face tints an odd greenish hue, and then he pukes all over his own chest. It was going to be a very long night.  


"I'm sorry." Jisung coughs and hangs his head. Minho is often deemed the "sarcastic" friend, the one who bullies everyone and has no filter. He has a big heart though.  


"It's okay." He says. "Let's get you out of here."  
The car ride is pretty quiet. Minho rolls down the windows to filter out the acrid smell of vomit, and Jisung mostly stares out at the road. Whatever radio station is on is playing some bad indie music that's mostly an out of tune combination of bongos and clarinet, and the singer squeaks on about loving and living. It's just background noise. Minho is thankful that it's spring, this would have been a lot more difficult if it were cold outside.  


"Do you want to talk about it?" Minho asks. He's careful to keep his tone gentle. Drunk people might be annoying, but Jisung isn't the type to get drunk for fun.  


"No…" The younger says.  


"That's okay, you don't have to."  


Jisung clumsily reaches across the console and grabs at Minho's hand. He wants to hold hands. He wants that little bit of comfort. Minho gives Jisung's hand a light squeeze, just a reassurance. It would be okay.  


When they get back to Minho's house, they haphazardly travel to the bathroom where Jisung takes a seat on the edge of the tub as per Minho's instruction. After plugging the drain and running hot water for a bath, Minho crouches down on one knee and begins to untie Jisung's boots and ease them off. The bathroom light is super yellow, and the cheap laminate floors are a gross off-yellow, and the ancient wallpaper has a faded yellow dandelion pattern. There's one small window in the bathroom on the narrow wall between the toilet and the tub, and it shows out to the backyard that is completely dark.  


"I just want to feel okay." Jisung says. Minho's heart does this weird thing, like a spasm of love and hurt and wanting to make everything right.  


"Gonna get you cleaned up, fresh clothes and a good sleep." He says, and somehow manages to get Jisung out of his soiled sweatshirt. The younger boy's arms are completely limp and Minho has to lift them around to get his wrists out of the sleeves.  


"I'm sorry." Jisung says. Minho makes an expression at the floor, a face of empathy and giving. He's had to do this so many times at work it's not a problem, he just feels bad for whatever reason Jisung ended up like this.  


"Don't apologize." He says.  


"I was going to call Chan but I didn't want him to give me a lecture." Jisung says. His pants are stupidly tight and Minho struggles to get them off, but once he does he stacks all the dirty clothes in a hamper and swirls his hand in the bath to make sure it's the right temperature.  


"Don't worry, I won't tell him. I won't tell anyone." Minho says. "Here," he holds onto Jisung's waist and helps him into the water. He's so skinny, too skinny. No surprise he would be a lightweight. And he always has those bruises on his knees. Jisung is very sensitive, but he doesn't like to let it show. Dilated pupils and under eye bags. All of the little details. That one crooked front tooth that's slightly higher up than the rest.  


"You're pretty." Minho says it without thinking, and Jisung looks away.  


"S'not funny." He mumbles. But Minho isn't laughing.  


He leaves for a moment to put Jisung's clothes in the washing machine, and he grabs a clean T shirt and pair of sweatpants from his closet, along with a plastic cup so he can scoop up water to help wash Jisung's hair. The blond boy sits in the tub with his eyes closed, and Minho is suddenly very aware of how his friend just looks like a little kid who's had a rough life. Han Jisung is probably the loudest and most annoying person on the face of the earth, but that's only if you don't take the time to see all sides of him. Because he's also thoughtful and intelligent and so SO caring.  


"You know, these days I feel kind of lonely at night. Right before I go to bed, there's that kind of feeling. That vibe. I don't know, I just cry alone." Jisung says as Minho pours water down the back of his head. It seems like maybe he's sobering up a little. Minho wonders if he will remember any of this in the morning.  


"You don't have to go through those feelings alone." Minho says. "You know everyone is here for you. Chan and Changbin and Felix, even Hyunjin. I'm here for you."  


"Don't wanna be a burden." Jisung says. His speech is nearly incomprehensible.  


"Never." Minho says. Jisung smiles a little as Minho works the shampoo into his hair, and for some reason the action is a bit cat-like. After a few minutes, Minho is draining the bath and helping Jisung into the new clothes. He's not much shorter than Minho, but everything looks so big on him because of how narrow he is. He's so small and fragile looking, like anyone could easily break him or steal him away if he's not careful. The thought makes Minho feel relieved that nothing serious happened while he was at the skatepark, and that the phone call woke him up.  


"Please please please," Minho says, and takes Jisung's face into both of his hands. "Take care of yourself. There are a lot of people who love you. We want you to be safe and healthy and happy." And he kisses Jisung's forehead.  


"Okay." Jisung says.  


"I'm serious." Minho says. That stupid drunken smirk makes it's way onto Jisung's face again.  


"Dude I don't know if I'm gonna remember this, to be honest, but like man I am FULLY homo for you." Jisung says. It takes everything Minho has not to INSTANTLY keel over and die on the spot because that is the sole most embarrassing and simultaneously hilarious thing Jisung has EVER said. But Minho doesn't want to laugh in his face because Jisung is in a highly emotional state right now and he doesn't seem like he's kidding around.  


"Yeah, I know." Minho says, and gives the back of Jisung's neck a pat.  


"I-I mean like, all those times before? I mean I meant it then too, you know? Like man you're my ride or DIE man. Thanks man. I love you man." Jisung says, as his eyes begin to well up with tears. In his mind, it must have been a pretty powerful speech he just gave. Minho finds himself hoping Jisung doesn't remember any of this. Minho kind of doesn't want to remember any of it. He easily picks Jisung up bridal style, and the younger boy loosely drapes his arms around Minho's neck as he's carried to the bed. The comforters are still tussled around from before Minho was awoken, wrinkled sheets and indented pillows. His room is neat though, everything organized and dusted. It's not as precise as Seungmin's room, but it's definitely nicer than Chan's. And it's nicer than Jisung's too, who keeps all of his laundry on the bed instead of putting it away. The few times Minho has been over to the trailer he asked where Jisung slept, and the younger had furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  


"I mean, usually I sleep like… on the floor or in my chair? I don't know, I always go to Chan's on weekends so… yeah. But I've never had someone over for the night so-so I don't know. I mean it's all clean, I can push it off." He had explained, pointing to the heap of clothes. At that point in time Minho wasn't sure if Jisung was telling the truth. The laundry pile was probably a good mix of clean and dirty, and if not that, then his sheets were probably months unwashed.  


"You've NEVER had someone over?" Minho asked. Jisung curled his upper lip and quirked an eyebrow.  


"Never someone like you." He said, to which Minho sighed in disgust. Jisung could be so… Jisung. It was true that the two of them didn't really have a solid label on a lot of things. They weren't a couple, but they definitely couldn't be considered just friends. They ended up deciding to go back to Minho's house that night.  


Minho's bed is bigger anyway. Jisung looks devastatingly tiny all curled up in the middle of it. He sleeps with his knees drawn up to his chest like a little bean.  


"Did you mean it?" Minho asks, but he's very quiet because he isn't sure if Jisung has already fallen asleep.  


"What?" Jisung asks. This is stupid, he should wait until morning when Jisung is fully sober and has a screaming headache to pester him with questions. While he's incapacitated he gets the nice guy. Tomorrow is when Minho lets the bitchy side out.  


"You said you love me." Minho says, lying down next to Jisung.  


"Yeah, I mean… yeah, I guess so." Jisung says. "We should get out of here someday… before it's too late."  


"What do you mean?" Minho asks, but he's met with no response. Jisung is out. He probably meant that they should escape before they became old and bitter and forgot about their passions and dreams, right? That they should run away from it all before they got stuck to their roots. Senior year is a weird time. Minho imagines what it would be like to move away, to find a new chapter. And he wonders who would continue to be in his life and who would become a memory. What it will be like to look back on this exact moment, how it will change in his mind. Minho is afraid of commitments. He doesn't ever want to feel like he's being tied down to one thing. Jisung doesn't want that either, right? Minho falls asleep at three AM.  


And Jisung wakes up at noon. Everything hurts. Like, his very EXISTENCE is crusty. He has a sore throat and his guts feel like someone wrenched a fork into them and scrambled it all around. His eyes are so dry, Jesus. He fell asleep with his contact lenses in. He fell asleep… in Minho's bed? In Minho's clothes? JESUS! Random clips from last night swarm into Jisung's head and it's a whirlwind of complete chaos that does NOT help his pounding head. Getting drunk and waking up in someone else's bed is supposed to be fun or something, or at least for an 18 year old boy it is, but Jisung never gets drunk because when he does it's not sexy. He gets stupid and cries a lot, as if he doesn't do that enough when he's sober.  


Since Minho is nowhere in sight, Jisung takes the moment to try to recall everything. He remembers the beginning, getting in that fight with his parents… that was the part he wanted to forget, dammit. He wills the memory away and skips to the next part; storming out of the trailer with nothing but his backpack. His backpack! Where is it now? Where are his clothes? He had gone to the skatepark to cool down. It was a pretty long walk, but he had been throwing back shots of Fireball the whole time. On top of that he left without eating anything, so it's no surprise he got so wasted. Did he throw up? Yeah, he definitely did, judging by the way his throat burns like someone poured battery acid into his mouth. He threw up in Minho's car, right? God, Minho's MOM'S car, that is. He's so screwed. Why didn't he just call Chan? Chan is his boy, he wouldn't do… that. Whatever Minho is doing right now. Standing in the doorway silently stirring a bowl of batter with a tired expression.  


"Ah, Sleeping Beauty…" Minho says. "Has arrived." And he gestures to himself. "The beast is awake?"  


"What? Those aren't even from the same-"  


"So, you gonna lie around all day? Or are you gonna come into the kitchen and help me out?" Minho asks.  


"Help… help you… what?" Jisung asks. He really needs to get these dry ass contacts out.  


"Come on. I better see you out there in two minutes." Minho says, and with a swing of his hips he turns down the hallway. Fuck fuck fuck. Jisung is SO screwed. He finds his phone on the bedside table and uses the screen as a mirror to peel his contacts out and mess with his hair. It must have been wet when he fell asleep because it is absolutely HORRIBLE right now. Chan would just scold him for being stupid and then give him a hug and ask if he wanted some hot cocoa. Chan would never mix pancake batter so menacingly. Jisung doesn't remember why he called Minho instead. He must have been REALLY drunk.  


He takes his time going out to the kitchen, even tries tiptoeing as if Minho will just forget he's there if he doesn't hear him. The brown haired boy is standing by the stove and flipping cakes with a metal spatula. He hears Jisung approaching, and he tilts his head to acknowledge the company.  


"Could you wash a couple dishes please?" Minho asks, and nods in the direction of the sink. It's not tremendously full, just a bit cluttered.  


"Uh… yeah." Jisung says. He scratches the back of his head, begins digging around for soap and a sponge.  


"How'd you sleep?" Minho asks without looking away from the cast iron pan. Jisung fills half of the sink with soapy water and starts to scrub silverware. This feels… oddly domestic. It's very unlike Minho and Jisung to get along in this way.  


"Fine, I think. I don't really remember." Jisung admits. Minho just hums in response. He's probably being so nice because Jisung called him crying last night. He feels bad or something, Jisung decides that has to be it.  


"Hey, listen, I'm really sorry for ruining your day off." Jisung says.  


"Ah, finally. I was starting to think I would have to bring that up." Minho laughs. "It's true, you kind of destroyed all my plans of having a peaceful night and a single day out of the whole year to myself, but I'll forgive you." Jisung grimaces at that. He's not proud of himself. He can't for the life of him understand what his mindset was last night. Where his head went. Why of all his friends, Minho?  


"You know I… I don't really remember a lot." Jisung says. He too keeps his eyes on his own task of washing the dishes.  


"Yeah, I figured you'd say that." Minho says. Then, "Nothing happened, if that's what you're worried about. I just drove you here and we fell asleep."  


"What, that? No, that's… I'm not worried about that. That's fine." Jisung says, shaking his head. "I just don't know what I said to you. If I said something really stupid or-or… I don't know. Sober me would like to apologize for drunk me."  


"Drunk you isn't so bad." Minho says, and brings a plate full of pancakes to the center of the table. Jisung drains the sink and brings two clean plates a pair forks over.  


"Oh yeah?" He asks, taking a seat across from Minho.  
"Oh yeah. Apparently drunk you loves me." Minho says, and the eye contact he makes is utterly terrifying. He has that signature Scorpio stare, the one where he looks into your fucking soul. Jisung averts his eyes quickly.  


"Shit." He curses. "I said that?"  


"Well, yeah." Minho shrugs like it's no big deal. "You also said that you were 'fully homo' for me." And then Jisung spits the water he had just sipped right back into his cup with a very unattractive snort.  


"Oh GOD." He groans. The feeling of shame is so so so heavy. Minho is all smiles though. He's getting a kick out of this.  


"Don't worry, I thought it was kind of cute." He says, and stabs a pancake from the middle plate.  


"So embarrassing…" Jisung whines. Minho laughs out loud, that prick.  


"Are you gonna tell me what happened?" He asks.  


"Hm?" Jisung looks up from his plate. Minho is still smiling, but it's a more fond expression. He's really not evil, he just has to tease. It's only fair given the fact that Jisung DID crash his lovely day off.  


"I mean, last I knew, you don't just get blackout drunk and wander to the skatepark on a Monday night for the fun of it."  


"Yeah, no I…" Jisung trails off. He does kind of owe this to Minho. Chan would have asked the same question. "I got in another fight with my parents. I don't know, it's stupid. They just don't get me." Jisung visibly cringes at himself for his choice in wording. He sounds like SUCH a bratty teenager, it's unbearable.  


"Ah, I see." Minho says. "And what about you is it that they are not… getting?" Jisung sighs through a bite of food.  


"I just want to stick with music, yaknow? It's IN me. Music is my whole life. They don't support it or whatever though. I don't know, it sounds dumb, I probably just overreacted. My dad gave me a deadline, said if I couldn't get into a decent music school by the end of July, I would either have to study something he wants at a University, or I'm getting the boot."  


"Seriously?" Minho asks. Jisung nods his head, the reality of the ultimatum settling in once more. It makes his anxiety start to spike up in an annoying way.  


"What are you gonna do?" Minho asks.  


"Apply everywhere I can." Jisung says.  


"And if you don't get in?"  


"Move in with Chan."  


"No WAY!" Minho gasps. "For real?"  


"Yeah, I mean, I'd rather that than study some boring ass shit." Jisung says. He doesn't want to move in with Chan. He knows that Chan's parents would be completely accepting and supportive, but he wants his OWN parents to be accepting and supportive. He wants to show them that he's serious. He wants them to be proud.  


"You shouldn't drink though." Minho says, breaking Jisung out of his thoughts.  


"What?"  


"You're depressed, and drinking will only make it worse. Alcohol is a depressant, you know."  


"I'm not depressed." Jisung says defiantly, but Minho just raises his eyebrows.  


"Okay, well then I guess the meds in your stupid bag are for something else?" Crap.  


"You looked through my BAG?!"  


"No, I had it in the back seat. It must have fallen while I was driving last night and everything just spilled out." Minho explains. "It's okay, I'm not gonna judge you. It doesn't change anything."  


"Did I really say I love you?" Jisung asks. Minho nods.  


"Yep. You said, 'You're my ride or die man. Thanks man. I love you man.'"  


"What? Channie boy is my ride or die! Damn, drunk me is fuckin idiot." Jisung scolds himself. Minho flinches slightly, purses his lips for a second.  


"I mean… it wasn't dumb that I said… that. Like, you're still… like. Yeah." Jisung says.  


"Hey, you were really smashed. Don't worry, I didn't take it seriously." Minho says.  


"In the context it sounds like I meant, yaknow, like I love you, man. Like it's casual." Jisung says. Minho is so hard to read.  


"Well we have always been casual." Minho says, and Jisung chuckles. He wonders what they look like, sitting at the kitchen table eating pancakes on a lazy tuesday afternoon. Jisung is still in pajamas, he LOOKS like he has a hangover, and Minho is wearing jeans and a striped T shirt, and his eyes are bright. He wonders if they look like lovers, or partners in crime.  


"Thanks." Jisung says.  


"What for?" Minho asks. Everything.  


"Understanding." Jisung decides to say. Because if anyone understands Jisung, it's Minho. Minho understands ALL sides of him. He feels like a rubik's cube that's been solved whenever they're together.  


"Sure." Minho says. And so Tuesday goes.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!! As always, thanks for reading <3 Should I post more works from this au? It's a whole storyline haha


End file.
